Tokyo: Shares rise on vaccine hopes, US gains

[Tokyo] Tokyo stocks ended higher on Thursday, tracking rallies on Wall Street amid fresh hopes for greater supplies of coronavirus vaccines that may normalise the global economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 1.67 per cent or 496.57 points at 30,168.27, while the broader Topix index gained 1.22 per cent or 23.16 points to 1,926.23.

Documents released by the US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday showed the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including newer variants.

Wall Street shares bounced back as the news cheered investors.

"Japanese shares are seen rallying supported by gains in the US market," said Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior analyst at Monex.

The US dollar fetched 105.89 yen in Asian trade, against 105.85 yen in New York late Wednesday.

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Rallies on Wall Street, where the Dow finished up 1.4 per cent to close at 31,961.86, a new all-time high, kept Tokyo investors bullish.

Nintendo rose 2.89 per cent to 68,360 yen. SoftBank Group added 3.84 per cent to 10,365. Toyota rose 1.61 per cent to 8,018 yen. Sony jumped 2.16 per cent to 11,570.

Bargain hunting lifted the Nikkei particularly in the morning session, before the index became trapped in a narrow band in the afternoon trade, said Okasan Online Securities.

"The market basically regained what it lost yesterday," the brokerage said, referring to a 1.61 per cent loss of the Nikkei on Wednesday.

In Tokyo, chipmaker Murata Manufacturing rose 3 per cent to 9,579 yen.

Takeda Pharmaceutical trimmed earlier gains and ended up 0.14 per cent at 3,610 yen after it said it had started a clinical trial in Japan of the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine.

Takeda also said it expects results from an ongoing Moderna trial in the first half of this year.

Suzuki gave up 3.30 per cent at 4,805 yen after it said its charismatic chairman Osamu Suzuki will retire after more than four decades at the helm of the Japanese carmaker.

AFP